A dingo ate my baby

The dingo is a wild dog of Southeast Asia and Australia. It’s usually called the Australian wild dog. They flourished upon introduction, and quickly spread out across Australia, quite possibly with individual assistance. Within a short period of time that the dingo had occupied the entire continent and became a dominant predator, probably contributing to the extinction of marsupial carnivores like the Thylacine. Recently, the dingo is now seen as a pest species, and lots of measures, including a comprehensive fence, have been made to stem its encroachment on human property/welfare. Also, due to its inbreeding with dogs introduced by European settlers, the dingo gene pool is also thought of as increasingly”polluted”.

Physical Description:

The dingo weighs between 22 and 53 pounds approximately, being usually smaller that the wolves of the northern hemisphere. It stands at about 17 – 25 inches at the shoulder, and measures approximately 34 – 48 inches long. Although fur coloring differs slightly, dingoes are usually ginger in color. It has a lean muscular build with erect ears. Although the dingo does not generally occur in packs (more often present in pairs or small family groups), it’s capable of forming larger groups to search.

Diet:

Dingoes predate on a variety of animals. The majority of its prey species are medium or small in size, such as lizards and rodents. The dingo is opportunistic, and in addition to searching is also known to consume fruits and plants and scavenge from humans.

Habitat:

Modern dingoes are dispersed primarily in tiny pockets of forests in Southeast Asia and in many portions of Australia. In Australia, it occurs mostly in the northwest. The”Great Dingo Fence” was begun in the 1880s, and meant to keep dingoes out of the relatively fertile southeast of Australia and to protect sheep. Although it has managed to stem the dingo from existing in larger amounts, some dingoes can nevertheless be found in the southern portions of the continent now.

Reproduction:

Dingoes breed once annually, generally between March and June. Pups are born after about 63 days, and litter sizes range from 4 to 6 offspring. The young may be left on their own after just a month or two, or they may stay with their parents for up to a year before independence. Males reach sexual maturity by age one, and females become capable of communicating at about exactly the same age.